Artists’ Delight

The artists who co-created an aquatic-themed Shaun the Sheep for the ‘Shaun in the City’ trail say they are delighted he’s taken up residence at Bristol Aquarium.

Designers Jodie and David Partington, who work under the name of ‘Peskimo’, created their own version of Shaun called ‘Life Aquatic’, complete with jellyfish, whales, puffer fish, seahorses and swordfish.

‘Life Aquatic’ is one of 70 Shauns created by artists, designers and celebrities dotted around the city as part of the charity sculpture trail from Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal, which runs until August 31st.

Commenting on the inspiration behind their design, Peskimo said: “We’ve always liked the variety and complexity of underwater life, especially since we visited the Great Barrier Reef a few years ago and have often returned to that idea in our work.

“For ‘Life Aquatic’, we wanted to create a busy piece that draws you in the more you look at it. Although the individual shapes are very simple, they all work together to make a complex single image.

“It was particularly good fun to insert little jokes or hidden things amongst the sea creatures.

“We were lucky enough to be able to paint and finish our Shaun at Aardman’s offices in Bristol, which is a great environment to work in and it was nice to hear so many people enjoying seeing it develop and evolve as we worked on it.

“It was fantastic to hear that he was chosen to be placed outside Bristol Aquarium as we had always thought it would be an ideal spot and has secretly hoped that it would be so.

“We’ve been following Shaun in the City on Twitter and Instagram and it’s been so nice to see all kinds of people enjoying ‘Life Aquatic’ and all the other Shauns on the trail and sharing their photos,” they added.

At the end of the trail, all 70 Bristol Shaun the Sheep sculptures will be joined by the 50 from the London trail, which took place earlier this year, for a special exhibition.

The exhibition, entitled ‘The Great Sheep Round Up’, will take place at the Mall in Cribbs Causeway from September 12th – 20th. This will be the very first opportunity to see all 70 sculptures from the Bristol trail alongside the 50 that were on display in London earlier this year, making a fab flock of 120.

Visitors will be able to buy tickets online for the ‘Great Sheep Round Up’ from mid-August. More details will be announced in due course.

The Mall will also host the grand finale of the ‘Shaun in the City’ trail: the charity auction on October 8th. All 120 sculptures will be auctioned, with proceeds from the sale of the Bristol sculptures benefitting The Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s Hospital Charity.

The sale of the London sculptures will raise funds for Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Charity, which supports children in hospitals all over the UK.

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